What's Going On At NCTR?
This week, Chief Executive Officer Anissa Listak presented at the Governors Education Symposium (GES) in Denver, Colorado. The event brings governors from across the country together to receive in-depth information from education experts, and engage in conversation about the best approaches to critical challenges facing education.
Anissa presented on a panel that discussed effective approaches for building a coherent statewide system of teacher and principal preparation, development and support.
Last week, Chief External Relations Officer Tamara Azar attended American Institutes for Research and Education Counsel's Unpacking ESSA State Plans: Insights for Policy & Practice, a panel that focused on the findings of recently submitted ESSA plans to help inform planning and decision making at the state level. More than a dozen state plans submitted in the first round include teacher residencies and the core components of high quality, clinical-based teacher preparation.
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Partner Updates
When asked by KCTP Education how he defines “our” when he talks about “our schools,” Charles King of the Kansas City Teacher Residency responded, “When I hear the word ‘our’ I think about a more global perspective…it’s our responsibility to make sure every child has access to a high-quality education.” See his full response here.
Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) welcomed 60 new residents to their 9th cohort (pictured below). Congrats to the MTR team and new residents!
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MTR has introduced a new community builder called MTouR, which encourages residents to try new experiences across the city, upload a picture to MTouR, and collect points to redeem for prizes. This is a fun, creative way to build a connection between residents and their community.
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Featured News
Elements of Effective Teacher Professional Development
The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) released a new report that examines the most effective features of professional development for teachers. Authors of the report reviewed 35 studies from the last 30 years that included rigorous methodology, and demonstrated a positive connection between teacher professional development, teaching practices, and student outcomes.
Based on the review of previous studies, LPI identified seven attributes of an effective teacher professional development initiative. Effective professional development:
- Is content focused, centered on teaching strategies associated with specific curriculum
- Incorporates active learning utilizing adult learning theory
- Supports collaboration, typically in job-embedded contexts
- Uses models and modeling of effective practice
- Provides coaching and expert support
- Offers opportunities for feedback and reflection
- Is of sustained duration, providing teachers with adequate time to learn, practice, implement, and reflect upon new strategies
Although professional development initiatives may have some or all of the above features in place, implementation for teachers could still be challenging due to a variety of barriers such as inadequate resources or a dysfunctional school culture. LPI suggests anticipating and planning for these challenges during the design and implementation phases of the program.
The study also noted implications for policymakers, states, districts and schools. For example, policymakers could adopt standards for professional development or redesign the use of school schedules to allow for professional learning opportunities. State and district administrators could develop expert mentor teachers to support learning for other educators or integrate professional learning into the Every Student Succeeds Act school improvement initiatives.
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Today is the Title II Day of Action!
The Trump Administration's proposed budget eliminates funding for teacher and school leader professional development. Title II, Part A supports state and district efforts to prepare and develop effective teachers. Teacher residencies are a significant innovation in preparation that many states and districts are prioritizing -- the Every Student Succeeds Act encourages the move to a clinical-based preparation model, investments in recruiting teachers from diverse backgrounds, and systems to identify and support effective mentor teachers. Eliminating funding for Title IIA could derail state efforts to expand teacher residencies, resulting in fewer students having access to effective educators.
Here are some suggested Twitter posts you can share:
- #TitleIIA allows states & districts to support #innovation in teacher prep so all new teachers are ready for the classroom @NCTResidencies
- Students need teachers who are prepared to meet their learning needs. #TitleIIA supports teacher residencies so new teachers are ready
- New teachers need extended school-based training like #residencies to be prepared for the classroom. #TitleIIA helps make it happen
- #TitleIIA helps identify, prepare, and compensate effective mentor teachers, so we keep great teachers in the classroom @NCTResidencies
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